Chinese polar scientific expedition team, which aims to study the physical characteristics of the Antarctic ice sheet and caps, recently kicked off a thorough research around the core zone areas of the Grove Mountain, in an effort to draw a geological map about the region.

 This will become China's first geological map about the Antarctic region and the world's first geological map for the Grove Mountain.

As different from transportation map or geographical map, which one usually sees in daily life, geological map shows the overall geological information of a certain area.

Professor Hu Jianmin from the expedition team compared geological map to an encyclopedia, which contained detailed information such as rocks' distribution status, their way of stretching, rocks' chronological information and the elements that make them.

In order to draw the geological map, scientists need to walk through every hill possible near the Grove Mountain that protrudes above snow and collect large rock samples so as to make a comprehensive analysis.

Scientists said the accomplishment of geological map drawing would greatly upgrade China's position on world stage when dealing with affairs in the Antarctic region.

(Chinanews January 17, 2006)